Expired Food: Liability of the Establishment
I have always been meticulous in checking the details of almost every item I buy from the grocer's store. However, I am not that lucky today. I was hungry already, but I need to get some items in a store so I decided to drop by in a nearby supermarket inside a mall. It was a "speed" grocery errand.
Upon reaching home, I disinfected the items I bought when I noticed the Kellogs Instant Oats was two (2) days shy away from its expiration date - May 14, 2021! Shocked, I checked it again. Indeed, in two (2) days' time, it is expiring. How can I consume the entire 800 grams of oats in 2 days?!
It is stated under Republic Act No. 7394 otherwise known as the Consumer Act of the Philippines, that it is the State policy to protect the interests of the consumer by implementing measures to achieve the following objectives:
a) protection against hazards to health and safety;
b) protection against deceptive, unfair and unconscionable sales acts and practices;
...xxx....xxx...
For me, it is an outright deceptive and unfair sales act and practice to sell to the public expired or almost expiring items just so a business entity can disposed of its passè products to the detriment of the consuming public. Perhaps, it would be different if the merchant would inform the consumer that this certain product is expiring in so and so date. It will be the consumer's call if he/she will still buy it. There is also some practice of selling expiring products on discounted prices. I believe in such a situation there is no deception on the part of the seller as he/she made known to the consumer that the item he/she is buying is about to loss its efficacy. However, my case is distinct considering that the supermarket has plenty of the said items on display on its rack and without any notice that the same is about to expire in two (2) days. It was not even on sale, except for a free sachets of powdered milk which is a very common promo in supermarkets!
In cases of deceptive, unfair and unconscionable sales acts and practices, complaints may be lodged before the Department of Trade and Industry pursuant to the Consumer Act of the Philippines. Filing complaints against the abuses of business entities can be easily filed online via the DTI website
On the other hand, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) is empowered to act by Republic Act 9711, otherwise known as the Food and Drugs Administration Act of 2009, against unscrupulous entities that sells food/s or items that endangers the welfare of the consuming public, including expired food/s. One can file an online complaint here.
In both laws, depending on what will be applied in a certain case, provide stiff penalties such as fine, closure, cancellation of registration, and even imprisonment of the officers of the business entity.
I received this afternoon a text message from the Store Head of the supermarket that she already had a meeting with all her personnel about the incident. And that appropriate actions were taken to ensure that they do not sell expired/expiring products in their store. Startling, however, is her action of "suspending" the merchandizer assigned to the product concerned when he simply follow orders from her on what product to display on their racks. Like they said, "there must be some heads to roll but definitely not mine".
Comments
Post a Comment